Golden Lion wanted to argue back, but no sound could come out.
Glowering at Rosinante, he activated his Floating-Floating Fruit ability, flying desperately, attempting to escape the colorless domain.
He knew that being entangled with Rosinante inside this domain was extremely disadvantageous. More importantly, he couldn't even speak freely here—an unbearably frustrating situation for someone like him. When have I ever been this frustrated? he thought.
"Trying to escape? You really think I'll let you go that easily?" Rosinante said coldly, stomping on the air beneath his feet, shattering it. In an instant, his body accelerated toward Golden Lion with a sword ready.
Inside the colorless domain, Golden Lion's Floating-Floating Fruit ability was heavily suppressed. His speed slowed considerably, and before he could react, Rosinante had already closed the distance, swinging a sword toward him.
Golden Lion remained composed. Spinning around, he crossed his twin blades to block Rosinante's strike and used the force from that attack to fly backward.
Rosinante pursued immediately, stomping through the air to keep up.
"Lion's Thousand-Slice Gorge!" Golden Lion shouted, slashing rapidly while retreating, attempting to halt Rosinante's pursuit.
But as soon as the technique was unleashed, Golden Lion's expression turned pale.
He could not believe it—the slices he unleashed were reduced to mere fragments of their true power.
Inside Rosinante's colorless domain, even attacks were heavily suppressed. A strike at full strength now only retained about sixty percent of its original force.
"Golden Lion, out of energy already? Pathetic strikes like these… how embarrassing!" Rosinante easily deflected the slices, his voice teasing.
Damn it… Golden Lion thought, if it weren't for this ability, my attacks wouldn't be so humiliated!
His attacks, once ten out of ten in strength, were weakened first by the domain to around seven out of ten, then further suppressed to about six out of ten. His long-range strikes were now severely compromised.
Golden Lion wanted to curse, but no sound would come out. What kind of Devil Fruit awakening is this?!
Though the ability didn't directly harm him, the suppression it exerted was exactly what a top-tier fighter like him dreaded. Unless he could break through space itself, inside this domain, he was completely under pressure.
Golden Lion forced his Floating-Floating Fruit ability to its maximum, attempting to break out of Rosinante's domain.
Yet under the colorless domain's suppression, his speed was still controlled by Rosinante. No matter how he pushed, he couldn't escape and was constantly pursued and attacked.
Never thought I'd be in such a passive situation against a kid… I need a plan. I can't stay like this! Golden Lion's eyes darted as he flew backward, defending against Rosinante's relentless strikes, searching for a solution.
But no matter how he thought, it felt like a dead end. All he could do was increase his speed with brute force.
Rosinante, sensing this, also increased his speed. Golden Lion's acceleration was pressuring him—he needed to maintain the advantage in speed to keep him suppressed inside the colorless domain.
Only by leveraging the colorless domain could Rosinante hope to defeat this former world dominator, once at the pinnacle of global power.
Even though Golden Lion's current strength had declined, defeating him still required Rosinante to risk everything. He had to exploit every advantage relentlessly.
Golden Lion's eyes gleamed with determination. Despite the domain's suppression, his speed continued to surge, breaking toward the edge of the colorless region.
Seeing Golden Lion suddenly accelerate like this, Rosinante paused. He planted his feet firmly, raised his twin swords high, and channeled all his strength into them.
Golden Lion's speed was extraordinary, almost breaking through the boundary of the colorless domain. Excitement flashed across his face, and he pushed even harder.
"Swish!" Like a rocket, Golden Lion surged through the boundary between the colorless and normal zones.
Astonishingly, at the moment he crossed, his body seemed to vanish.
Rosinante, ready and bracing, unleashed a colossal sword slash. A massive blade of sword energy formed, and just as Golden Lion appeared to have vanished beyond the boundary, he suddenly reappeared beneath Rosinante's towering blade!
Golden Lion was dumbfounded at the sudden turn of events.